A Changed Soul
by Miss-Little-Dhampir
Summary: What if the Healers found a way to modify the human body? To make it stronger, and faster? Able to think quicker,to have better senses? What if the only way the host could survive was by drinking blood everyday? My version of The Host, with a twist!
1. Chapter 1

Prologue:

It's so hot, yet so cold at the same time. How does that make sense? How can my body feel so hot on the outside, when my insides are so cold? I should never have left the Bats. I should have gone to the Flowers.

_Get up, Wanderer_, she urged. She, my friend. After all that we have been through together, I have the right to call her my friend, even though I was only inserted into her mind a few days ago.

Dust gathered in my nostrils when I inhaled, making breathing hard.

_How can I get up, Melanie? I'm so weak, and we're lost. We're going to die._ I told her calmly. I hoped that it would be quick. I hoped that when we died, it would be as peaceful as the desert that we were dying in.

I saw a large cactus up ahead, and Melanie's hope surfaced. Not my hope. Melanie's.

_Come on, Wanderer,_ she urged. _Grab hold of that tree, and pull yourself into the shade. You don't want us to die, do you?_

I was amazed at that moment by the strength of my survival instincts. I did not want to die, not at all. I wanted to live this life on earth to the fullest, and how could I live with myself, knowing that Melanie died because I gave up? Melanie may have hated me in the beginning, but now, after four days lost in the desert, we had formed a bond that no one could explain. Soul and human, working together at last.

_Okay Melanie. For you, _I vowed.

I felt her disapproval. _Not for me, Wanderer. For _you_. For us._

I nodded, forgetting that she couldn't see me.

I used my fingertips to pull myself across the bare hot sand of the desert. We were thankful about the Healers new discovery. The extra strength was useful. As soon as I touched the cactus, I knew that it was over. No matter how much the Teachers had taught me on the planet of the Flowers, the flowers on this planet were much more stubborn, and this cactus refused to give up its water. I could have broken it in two and drank its fluids, but the thought of killing another thing filled me with dread.

The cactus provided some shade. Enough shade to cover my head and torso, however, the air was humid and moist, and I couldn't breathe.

_I'm so sorry, Melanie,_ I told her weakly as my eyelids closed.

***


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter One:

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was that I was no longer in the sun. That blistering hot inferno was no longer damaging Melanie's body.

The second thing my mind registered was that I could hear angry murmuring over what sounded like a stream not far away.

_Mel?_ I asked hesitantly, searching my mind for her presence. There she was, flickering somewhere in the back of my mind.

_Yes, Wanderer?_

_Where are we? _I asked. She showed me pictures of the map that Uncle Jeb had made. They were crudely drawn, but when I matched them with the thoughts in her mind, the revelation I made filled me with a mixture of fear and joy.

We had reached them-the caves that we had spent the last few days in the desert searching for. That was my joy; the mission that had almost killed us was fulfilled. However, I felt fear, because even without my enhanced hearing the voices would have been clearly audible. There were three of them-all male. One was loud and angry, one was calmer, and the last was the voice of someone who was clearly in charge.

I noticed that the first two voices were nearly identical. Yes, they might have been identical, if the first one wasn't so angry.

And finally, the third thing I noticed was that the scorching pain in my throat was thirst.

_The stream is right behind us._ Melanie said helpfully. I shook my head.

_Not that kind of thirst. _I told her. I felt her comprehension, then her worry.

I pushed my thirst away when the angry voices came nearer. Three men emerged from the trees. Two of them must have been brothers for they shared the same looks. Hair as dark as ebony, eyes as bright as sapphires, and skin as pale as paper. However, the first man had an angry face. The second man's face was calmer-and his nose was perfectly straight. The type of nose that I would have liked to draw. I had formed a hobby during my short time on earth. Drawing.

And lastly, the thirst man was one that I recognized well, but not from my own memories. From Melanie's.

Uncle Jeb. Melanie wanted to reach out to him-to hug him. He was like a father to her. I almost gave in to her wants, until I saw the gun in his hand. What horrible things, guns. No wonder the human's were slowly wasting away before the Souls came.

The two brothers trained their gaze on me. The expressions they bore on their faces were expressions that a Soul would never have. Hatred, anger, violence, and many, many more. My body was frozen, petrified in fear. The only part of me that was moving was my hands, which were trembling.

"Just kill it now, Jeb. We don't need a sucker in the tunnels," growled the man with the crooked nose. Melanie fumed inside my head.

Jeb scratched his beard. "Now, Kyle, she may be one of them, but that there's my niece, and nobody's going to be killing her." At this, Jeb glared at Kyle, and stroked something that lay resting on his hip. A rifle.

My poor heart picked up frantically. Melanie worried that I was going to pass out. She wasn't far off.

"Honestly, Jeb," started the other man who wasn't Kyle but looked like him. "What are you going to do with a sucker? I don't see any reason in keeping it-unless you give it to Doc."

_Why do they hate me so much?_ I asked Melanie.

_They hate you because they're scared of you_. She said. I snorted out loud, and cringed at the look Kyle gave me.

"Ian, take Kyle back to the tunnels and leave me alone. My fingers are itching for the chance to shoot someone," Jeb muttered. I was shocked. Surely he wouldn't hurt his own people?

Ian and Kyle, however, ignored his threat.

"The others aren't going to be happy about this, Jeb," Ian warned, caution flashing in his blue eyes.

Kyle swore loudly enough to make me jump. "Who cares about the others? Let's just kill it now!" He roared as he advanced towards me. Instinct took over and I fled before he could get closer to me. Even Jeb and his gun wouldn't hold back this big, angry human.

I moved faster than I ever had before. So fast that, when Kyle was yanked back by his brother, he blinked in surprise at seeing me a few feet away from where I had originally been.

Jeb's facial expression was one part astonishment and one part horror. "What have they done to you?" He asked.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2:

I needed to get out of there, needed to run. But where to? I had no means of transportation, no water, and if I didn't get any blood soon I would fall unconscious again.

"What have they done to you?" Jeb asked again, pursing his lips as his eyes crinkled up at the corners. I said nothing and grabbed my wrist with my hand. I looked around wildly, for something. Anything. Anything that would get me out of here.

_They won't hurt us_, Melanie said confidently. _They're family. Besides, Jared would never let them hurt us._

How could she say that? Of course these large, aggressive humans with the guns wanted to hurt us! Why wouldn't they? What reason did they have for keeping me alive aside from some sort of gruesome torture?

Jeb sighed when I remained silent. Then he jerked his head towards me and handed Ian a bandana.

"Blindfold her and bring her back to the caves. Let's see what Doc has to say about her."

Ian walked towards me. My heart pounded frantically in my chest and I started to feel trapped. He grabbed my arm roughly and spun me around. He placed the bandana over my eyes and tightly tied it at the back of my head. I was plunged into instant darkness.

He removed his hands quickly from me, as if he found me revolting.

"Walk," he ordered, his voice rough. I hesitated, wary to walk across such an uneven terrain when I couldn't see anything. He gave the order again, this time a hint of annoyance in his voice. I obeyed and started to walk. The air around me was so tense and quiet that I may as well had been walking alone. The emotions that the humans were emitting were so different from anything that I'd ever experienced before. I didn't like it.

I don't know how long we walked for. Long enough for the sun to set, but I only knew that the sun had set because the air around me turned cooler.

I felt it immediately when we got underground. The air seemed to get moist and humid, and made my clothes stick to my body.

_Where do you suppose they're taking us?_ Melanie asked curiously, wishing that she could be experiencing it firsthand. I didn't reply. Fear made it impossible to do anything but walk in the direction that Ian prodded me in.

After a while the blindfold was roughly yanked away from my head, a few strands of my hair going away with it. My eyes adjusted to the darkness almost immediately—that had been part of the Seeker's experiment as well—and when they did I wished that I was still blindfolded.

Humans. They were everywhere. And they all looked like they wanted to kill me.


End file.
